Wednesday Round-up: 28 October

It was a busy afternoon of York sport today, with most of the big sides in action on campus. Halloween is fast approaching and some teams, both from York and elsewhere, will already be having nightmares after being on the receiving end of heavy defeats.

The men’s rugby firsts continued their promising start to life in BUCS division 1A with a 27-20 win over Durham thirds. York dominated in the first-half but were unable to convert their pressure into points and paid for this as their opponents clawed back into the game. Just as things were looking bad for York, Gruffud Jones scored his second try of the match and sealed the win. The game was marred in the final stages as former Captain Mike Callis suffered a blow to the head and was knocked out cold. A nervous few minutes followed but by the time the ambulance arrived he had regained consciousness.

Mike Callis collects the ball from a line out. He later suffered a worrying knock to the head in the closing stages of the game. Photograph by George Lowther.

On the adjacent pitch the men’s rugby thirds were crushed 59-0 in a BUCS cup match against Leeds seconds. Considering the quality of the opposition – they lost 30-0 to the thirds last week – the result was not unexpected, and the team could take positives from their ability to somewhat stem the flow of points in the second-half.

On the all-weather pitch it was York who were doing the crushing as the hockey women’s firsts incredibly beat Hull seconds 16-0. Nearly every player in the team scored and the always impressive Andrea Pisesky grabbed three. The men’s firsts were also successful in their away BUCS cup fixture at Sheffield Hallam, winning 3-1 but the seconds lost 2-0 against Sheffield thirds. They played considerably better than last week, when they lost to Sheffield fourths, but never looked like scoring against their impressive opponents.

The hockey men’s seconds have lost their opening two games of the season. They will look to end this run against Leeds’ fifths next week. Photograph by George Lowther.

There were mixed fortunes on the lacrosse field, with the men’s team being taught a lesson by Sheffield Hallam, losing 22-2, though the women’s firsts enjoyed a comfortable 19-6 victory against Liverpool firsts.

York enjoyed less success in the women’s basketball, where they lost 43-33 to the University of Hull. The men’s badminton side, playing their first home fixtures in League 1A, were beaten 5-3 by Manchester University, their second defeat of the season. The BUCS fencing season got underway for York with varied success: the women’s team easily defeated Durham 133-92, but the men’s side lost narrowly 133-135 to Hull.

Action from this afternoon’s badminton in the Sports Hall. Photograph by Justyn Hardcastle.

In the day’s football, where the BUCS Cup first round took centre stage, the men’s seconds were humbled 5-1 away to Northumbria seconds, while the fourths were crushed 12-0 by Sheffield firsts. However, the thirds will join the first team, who received a bye, in the next stage after a 2-0 home win over Sunderland fourths.

The women’s tennis team look in great shape this season and beat Sheffield firsts 7-3 this afternoon, but there was disappointment for our men’s volleyball squad, losing in straight sets to Manchester.

Netball firsts beat Hull University fifths 64-10, the second lost 23-46 to Leeds Met Carnegie fourths and the thirds lost 8-50 to Sheffield University firsts. All three were in the BUCS Cup first round.